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MTI Micro has released design plans for a new methanol fuel cell battery to power mobile devices. Although fuel-cell batteries have been slow to come to market, MTI Micro is banking on its design to gain wide adoption.

What makes this company's design interesting is its compact nature, an easy docking station to refill the battery, and the Mobion Chip, which acts as the main component of the power system. The company has gotten the unit down to 9 cubic centimeters (cc) from 16 cc six months ago. Like many fuel cell designs, the Mobion promises up to 10 times the battery life of conventional lithium ion and nickel cadmium batteries.

MTI Micro CEO Peng Lim (formerly VP of Worldwide Product Development at Palm) said the company has gone through two rounds of prototypes requested by Samsung, and it looks likely that Samsung will make compatible devices. MTI is currently seeking OEM partners to manufacture the device and another partner to distribute the fuel-cell refills. Its first iteration will likely be an external universal charger, moving to a snap-on battery form factor, and eventually, full device integration. Lim also said that units are expected in 2009 and will be competitively priced with existing lithium ion batteries.

There's one obvious concern with methanol fuel cells: Where does the methanol come from? Lim did not cite all the proposed sources, but the most common is natural gas. Although the only byproducts of methanol fuel cells are carbon dioxide and water, finding a renewable source of fuel (whether that be methanol or another substance) would up the green cache of such a product.

Erik Rhey is a former senior editor of PC Magazine Digital Edition. He is currently a freelance writer and editor for Fortune, Money, AllYou, and PCMag.com. He also teaches online courses in creative writing and online journalism at the Gotham Writers Workshop and NYU.
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